


A Misunderstanding

by whcalmwaves



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-04
Updated: 2015-12-04
Packaged: 2018-05-04 23:05:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5351717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whcalmwaves/pseuds/whcalmwaves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fernando found himself again the center of attention on qualifying day, the second race weekend in a row. Unfortunately, it was not due to results in the car, but happenings off the track.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Misunderstanding

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this after qualifying on Saturday, mainly to cheer myself up. It was bad enough that Fernando had such terrible luck with the punctured tyre, we also had to suffer RD’s stirring of the rumour mill. Then I saw Mark’s comments which I thought added fuel to fire, and I felt rather sad. All we wanted was some webbonso, but instead all we got was sabbatical gate for the nth time. 
> 
> Come Sunday and it showered webbonso gold! (and sabbatical gate quashed!) I don’t think we ever had it so good. The selfie will go down the annals of webbono history as the one defining moment which had all of the webbonso fans melted into a sweet puddle :). So it became celebration time, and I completed this story filled with hope for a bright webbonso future!
> 
> Disclaimer: Story based purely on imagination of what happened behind the scenes. No actual characters were harmed in the process of writing this story. Perhaps with the exception of JB, who had to suffer the indignity of having his end of the selfie cropped off almost immediately for a lovely webbonso couple selfie, by webbonso fans all over the world. Sorry JB! :D

Fernando just could not catch a break, the whole season long. This was the last race weekend of the season and it was more of the same. Just as things were looking slightly more competitive, his rear tyre punctured during his last flying lap in Q1. Awful luck again but at least this time it was not due to something in the car breaking down, he thought wryly as he brought his car with the badly deflated tyre back to the pit. Out of the car and on to the usual media duties, Fernando knew that there would be even more then usual interest from the media this time, no thanks to Ron’s out of the blue comments about the possibility of the Spaniard taking a sabbatical next year should the car remain uncompetitive. As expected, the media was in a bit of frenzy over the comments and everyone asked the same question. Fernando did his best to answer as calmly as possible, not letting his irritation show at having to once again calm the storm created by someone else. 

At long last his day at the circuit was done, and he was back in the hotel. He quickly showered and took an unusual amount of care in his dressing, as there was something special coming up that night. He was having dinner with Mark. Fernando had not seen his friend for far too long, he still remembered the specific day of their last meeting, May 10th at his home grand prix. Since then there were the occasional phone calls, texts and tweets, but somehow they had not had the chance to meet up. The Spaniard was still trying to get used to life in F1 without Mark. They had shared so many special moments together, both on track and off, but with them now competing in different series, their time together was rare. Fernando missed Mark very much, although he had never said anything specific about it to the latter. He doubted the Aussie missed him at all, given that he was enjoying so much his time at WEC with his current teammates. He shrugged off these thoughts as he carefully combed his hair, trying his best to tame his long curls which seemed to have grown a life of their own. He couldn’t help but smile as he remembered how Mark used to like to ruffle his hair and called it a perfect lion mane. The Aussie also joked about how Fernando would easily beat all others in an F1 hair championship , and that the other two multiple champions on the current grid would be so envious of him due to them already showing signs of being follically challenged despite being younger than the Spaniard.

These were just two of the many personal jokes that they shared with each other through the years. Mark had always this ability to cheer Fernando up, no matter how down he felt, whether with a little cheeky remark, a silly joke, or sometimes when the situation called for it, some sincere words of support and encouragement. This year with the season being the worst that Fernando had suffered in his illustrious career, during the few contacts that they had, Mark had always managed to lift his mood, and Fernando was grateful. Perhaps the feelings were more than that of gratefulness, but the Spaniard chose not to dwell too much on them. 

Their dinner appointment was made after Mark was crowned world champion at the WEC finale. Fernando had longed to be there in person to support him, but he had work commitments with his team, as they were all still working flat out to improve the car, no matter how difficult it was. Besides, if he had turned up at the WEC race, there would inevitably be more media speculations about his interest in WEC and more questions to answer. So, Fernando stayed away, but he was constantly checking the progress of the race and where possible watching it on live stream. He was pretty much on the edge the whole time, silently supporting Mark and his team, and had some heart stopping moments when the Porsche car threatened to give up with the problems they had. Fortunately they pulled through and Mark delivered the championship after a fantastic final leg for his team. 

Fernando was so happy for his friend. Finally a well deserved world championship for Mark! His immediate urge was to call him to offer his congratulations, but quickly realized that Mark would not be available to take the call. He thought the next best thing would be to write a congratulatory tweet for Mark, so he tried. However, the hundred and forty characters didn’t seem enough to convey what he felt. At the same time he could not be seen to be too enthusiastic about it, damn those pesky media speculations. Fernando wrote and rewrote the tweet but none was to his satisfaction. In the end, after two days, he settled on a simple message and finally tweeted it. During that time, he was so tempted to call Mark and talk to him instead, but thought that if he could not even express himself properly in a simple tweet, he would probably sound pretty stupid on the phone, so he gave up the idea. Mark responded with a cheeky reply which made Fernando laughed. To others, it might sound a little like rubbing it in on his car’s current lack of horsepower, but Fernando knew that it was just good natured teasing from the Aussie. Furthermore, Mark called him shortly after and suggested that they meet up for dinner as he would be there for the final race of the season, and jokingly added that this was so that he could personally hand over the 1100 bhp of power to Fernando.

So it was that Fernando was finally going to see his friend after such a long time, and he was really looking forward to it. After looking one more time in the mirror, Fernando was finally satisfied with how he looked. They were meeting at a restaurant near his hotel within walking distance. The time was still early and Fernando decided to check his messages on his phone. There were a few messages of support and encouragement from family and friends consoling him on his misfortune at qualifying that day. There were also some work related ones, including one from his PR officer telling him about the as expected wide reporting both on print media and social media on his supposed consideration of taking a sabbatical and she included some links to the articles. This was something that his PR officer would routinely do on race weekends, alerting him on what was being reported about him, so that Fernando could prepare himself and not be caught unaware. This week with such intense speculation caused by Ron’s remarks, it was all the more important and she duly did her best to inform her charge on what was being reported of him. In her summary, she highlighted Mark Webber’s comments as a must read with some links to what was being said. Intrigued, Fernando clicked on the link. The headline screamed at him, “Clicking time bomb waiting to explode, says Mark Webber…”. Fernando was shocked. Why was Mark saying this of him? He read this article and related ones quickly, his initial shock gave rise to disbelieve, then anger, then disappointment, then sadness, then hurt. His heart sank. He could not understand why Mark would say such things of him. He was aware that Mark was doing some commentary work for the BBC but he could not imagine why Mark would say these things to effectively add fuel to the fire that Ron had started. He felt so confused and hurt, with all those words used to describe him swimming around his head. Did Mark really see him that way? It really hurt Fernando to think of it. He was having such a horrible season but he could honestly say that he had been working so hard with the team despite not seeing the results on the track. He had been patient, understanding and generally calm, despite a couple of outbursts on the radio. These were heat of the moment outbursts, surely Mark could understand that! Throughout the year, there were so many others who mocked and criticized him but he could not care less about it. Now Mark had seemingly jumped on the bandwagon and it really hurt him to the core. He sank down onto the nearest chair, feeling the weight of the world on him and the prick of tears in his eyes. It seemed that the world had turned against him, he felt so exhausted and so alone. 

Right at that moment, his phone buzzed with a message, from none other than Mark.

“Hey Nano mate! Am on the way to the restaurant, see you real soon.”

Fernando didn’t think he could face his friend; he could not pretend that he didn’t know of his comments on him, but he felt that he could not confront him on it either. At that moment, all he wanted to do was to shrink into himself and not see anyone anymore. However, Fernando knew he could not ignore his friend for long. He made up his mind as he picked up his phone and typed the first excuse that came to his mind.

“Sorry, have to cancel. Last minute meetings with team”

"Oh...any chance of meeting later? I can wait! So looking forward to seeing you.”

“Don’t think so, not sure how long will last. Long discussions.”

“No worries mate, let me know when you are done. I can come by to see you”

Fernando didn’t know what else to say, so he just left it there without replying. He was not aware of how long he sat there until he started feeling that the room had become very stuffy and unbearable, so he decided to leave to take a walk to hopefully clear his head. He had lost all appetite despite it being dinner time, and just walked aimlessly in the streets around his hotel. Finally he got tired of walking around, and returned to the hotel. Spotting a bar beyond the lobby, he headed straight into it. He sat in a quiet corner of the bar and ordered himself some drinks. Fernando was never fond of liquor but on this occasion he found it rather useful to numb his upheaved emotions. He was not sure how many he had but he had started to feel rather light headed when someone appeared before him. 

“There you are mate! Been looking everywhere for you. Why are you drinking here on your own? Team meetings ended quick?” It was Mark.

“How’d you know was here?” Fernando’s speech was a bit slurred.

“Gosh, you sound like you are pissed. What’s wrong mate, why are you drinking on your own?”

“How’d you know was here?” The Spaniard repeated his question.

“Well, I waited for a couple of hours and thought your meeting should be over. Called you but there was no answer, so I came round to your hotel. I bumped into one of your team people who told me he saw you walking in here. Geesh mate, I didn’t know you like to drink. Is anything wrong?” Mark was quite concerned for his friend.

“Nothing, am fine”

“You don’t look too fine, I’m afraid”

“Am fine. Leave me alone!”

“Hey, didn’t know you have turned into your former teammate!” Mark tried to lighten the mood with a joke but was met with a stony faced Fernando. “Nano, what is wrong? You are not still upset with what happened during qualifying, are you? You sounded fine when I talked to you on the phone right after that”

“Am fine!”

“You don’t look that, honestly. Please tell me what is wrong, Nano. It’s not like you to be drinking hard especially the night before a race.”

“Not like me? Guess you know how I am like then, like a fucking ticking time bomb?”

Mark was stunned by Fernando’s outburst. Was he the one who got his friend so upset? 

At that moment, Fernando stood quickly in a bid to walk away from Mark. But in his tipsy state, stumbled and started to fall. Mark was quick to catch him and managed to steady him on his feet. Still the Spaniard shrugged off his hold and started to walk away. Mark had no choice but to follow.

“Nano, where you going now? Look, can we talk?”

Fernando ignored him and continued to walk. Mark followed and said “Nano, I guess you are upset with my remarks about you? We need to talk to sort things out!”

“No, nothing to say. Am tired, have a headache.”

“Ok, then let’s go to your room. We can talk there”

Fernando did not reply but kept walking. He was really tired and did not have the strength to argue with Mark. And if he was honest with himself, irregardless of what had happened, he was glad to see Mark and to have him by his side, even though he was the source of his unhappiness at that moment. He just could not help himself when it came to Mark it seemed, and the realization of his helplessness caused him to huff irritatedly at himself. 

Mark on hearing the angry noise and seeing the pout on his friend’s face thought that it was directed at him, but since the latter did not further object to his presence he just followed him in silence, all the while keeping his hand just behind Fernando in case he stumbled again.

They reached Fernando’s room and the Spaniard sunk onto the couch, folding his legs against his chest and rested his head on his knees. His head was starting to pound.

“Fernando?” Mark said softly, but there was no response. The Spaniard kept his head down. 

Mark decided to try another approach “How’s your headache mate?” Still no response. Mark sat down gently beside him and started to massage his temple. Fernando flinched initially at his touch but did not pushed him away. 

After a while, Mark could feel the Spaniard relax slightly. “Is your headache getting better?” A small noise from Fernando seemed to affirm it, and so Mark continued massaging his temple gently.

A few moments later, Mark decided to try again to get his friend to talk to him. “Trying day for you eh, mate?” 

Unfortunately this caused Fernando to tense up again and he moved away from Mark who was persistent to get him to talk.

“I know it’s been really tough on you this year, but it’s almost over. Things will be much better next year…”

This seemed to trigger something in the Spaniard as he finally looked up and started lashing out. “Yes, shit year for me, right from the start all the way to the end! I get a shit box to drive with shitty penalties almost every race and even shittier luck every time. Everyone is saying shitty things about me and I have to clean up the shit storm in the media for the shit that my boss decided to spout. But you know what? All this shit is ok for me, no problem, I can take it. But then I just found out that my best friend, someone whom I thought cared about me, think that I am a shitty fucking time bomb and decided to tell everyone about it…” 

By the end of the outburst, Fernando’s face was flushed and he could felt tears welling up in his eyes, which he angrily wiped away. 

Mark was dumbfounded by the angry outburst, it was the first time he had heard him swore so much. He knew Fernando was upset with his comments, but did not realize the extent of the hurt he felt. It pained him that his own comments had hurt Fernando in such a way, but he had gotten it so wrong, that was not what he meant at all!

“Fernando, this is not what I meant at all. I didn’t mean it to be a criticism. I just meant that you are really frustrated, and rightly so. You are the best driver on the grid but you have to be trundling at the back of the grid with that car. That’s really not fair. Anyone else would have blown up months ago, but you are still keeping at it.”

“But ticking time bomb? Creating pressure on everyone? Not something I would say in praise of someone else.” Fernando was still holding on to his anger.

“Mate, you are a champion and the best, of course you will be pushing everyone to do their best. There is nothing bad in that. And ticking time bomb, well you certainly are one sometimes, you know. You are so passionate in what you do, and we never know what to expect from you. That’s why we love you. In fact, that’s why I love you…” Mark’s voice tapered off to a whisper as he said the last sentence.

But Fernando heard those words and was stunned. “Could you say that again please?” He urged urgently.

“Oh, ummm, I said you are a champion and of course you will be pushing everyone to do their best…” Mark’s face was flushed and felt a little unsure. He meant everything that he said to Fernando, but did not intend for it to come out in such a situation.

“No, no, no, the second part. Do you really mean it? The part about why you, why you…” Fernando could not quite complete the sentence, he was blushing furiously and yet needed to hear what he thought he heard from Mark. His large golden brown eyes looked at Mark beseechingly.

“Well, yes mate. I do mean it. Every word of it. That is why I love you. I love how you tick, your passion, your style, your fiery temper, your indomitable spirit. You drive people crazy sometimes, but that’s you, and I love you just the way you are. A ticking time bomb that no one knows what to expect from, so full of surprises. There is never a dull moment with you, my little ticking time bomb,and I wouldn’t want you to be any other way.” 

Mark’s declaration was spoken with such sincerity and conviction. Fernando was truly touched, but he could not help but feel that the situation was rather surreal. The feelings expressed by Mark were something that he had secretly hoped for the longest time, but had never dared to think possible especially after Mark left F1 as they seemed to drift further and further apart. With what happened today, Fernando was even convinced just a few moments ago that Mark no longer cared for him, not even as a friend. But now to have things turned around and Mark to express such feelings for him? Fernando could not wrap his head around such a dramatic change and could not formulate any coherent thoughts or response. 

Mark, on seeing his hesitation and confusion,, started to feel dread building up inside of him. What if he had read it all wrong and Fernando did not care for him as he thought? Mark had always thought that the feelings that he had for the Spaniard were mutual. True, they had not articulated it openly to each other and spent so much time apart, but Mark had always thought that it was a matter of time and taking it slow. When the time is right they would work things out and be together.

The silence stretched between them. Mark did not know what to do or say, he did not want to take back his words but with the silence from the recipient of his declaration, he began to think that it was not welcomed. Finally, unable to tolerate the silence any longer, he started to say dispiritedly, “Sorry mate, guess this is not what you wanted to hear. Maybe I should just go.”

“No, please. Don’t go!” Fernando grabbed his hand and held it tightly. “It’s just that I didn’t…”

“No mate, you don’t have to say it…” Mark did not want to hear the rejection that he thought was coming.

“Please Mark, hear me out! It’s just that I didn’t think that you cared for me anymore. We have spent so little time together since you left and you seemed to be so happy with your new teammates, it’s like you have forgotten about me. Then I got to read your comments about me in the media. It was just too much. So when you talked about how you felt about me just now, it was so unexpected” Fernando paused and looked down. He finally gathered his courage to continue, “Unexpected, but not unwelcome…” He did not know how to continue as his cheeks burned.

Mark was mesmerized by this adorable sight. He put his fingers under his chin to gently tilt his face up to look at him. “Oh Nano, for someone so intelligent you sure are a silly little one sometimes. Me not care about you? How can you even think that?”

“Well, you were always going on about how great your team is and how much time you spent with your teammates, while I only get to see you once or twice a year and hear you talk about me in the press.” Fernando was being a bit stubborn, and he could not help the jealousy creeping into his voice.

“Sure, the team is good and the guys are fun to hang around. But they are not you, no one comes close to you in here” Mark reassured him as he pulled Fernando’s hand over his heart.

A beautiful smile formed on Fernando’s lips and this was all the encouragement Mark needed to wrap him in his embrace and gently tasted his lips. The gentle kiss soon turned into a passionate one as they explored each other’s mouth and clung tightly to each other. Eventually they had to surface for air but they remained wrapped snuggly in each other arms. Both of them wanted something more, but at the same time knew that they had to take things slowly so that they could enjoy each special moment. For now, they were contented to stay in each other’s arms.

With the misunderstanding over, they started catching up on the ongoings of each other’s lives. Mark recounted to Fernando his championship weekend, the thrill of the race, the stress when the car problems surfaced and utter joy and relief when he finally made it to the chequered flag to be crowned world champion. 

“I wished you were there with me, Nano. It would have made it all perfect.” 

“I would if I could, but I had work at the factory that day. Besides, if I had turned up, there would be endless speculation about me wanting to drive in WEC. But then again, even when I don’t do or say anything, my boss seemed to be happy to provide the media with something to speculate over. And of course you had to add fuel to fire with your suggestion that I may take a sabbatical depending on the results of the winter testing” Fernando pouted and lightly jabbed Mark in the stomach with his elbow.

“Trust me, mate that was not my intention. It just pained me to see how much you struggle when you of all people should have a decent car to fight at the front. I guess there is also some selfish reasons that prompted the mention of a sabbatical for you.” 

Fernando raised an eyebrow in question.

“Well, you see, if you really take a sabbatical, you can come drive at the WEC. Then I can see you so much more often!”

Fernando smiled at Mark’s reasoning. “Yes, it would be wonderful to drive with you. But there is no seat for me! Your team is only entering 2 cars next year.”

“True that, but if you had really wanted to come over, all the teams will scramble to make space for you.”

“Do you really think so? I’m not so sure, but it’s nice to hear you say that of me. But you know I have unfinished business here, I want to win my third championship and win it with this team. Everyone in the team is working extremely hard and I will not want to abandon them even if it was just a break for one year. I’m sure we will see big improvements next year as long as we continue to work hard over the winter.” Fernando said with conviction.

“You are right, you have to win a few more championships before you call it a day, and I’m sure you will!”Mark said sincerely and then continued “So I guess you will be spending lots of time at the factory over the winter then?”

“Yeah, will be busy until around Christmas, and will be back again in the New Year for the preseason.”

“You know, mate. My place is not too far from your factory. Maybe, if you like, you can stay at my house while you are over there?” Mark felt a bit nervous in suggesting that. It would be another step forward for them and he was not sure if Fernando was ready for it. 

He need not have worried for Fernando beamed when he heard the suggestion. “I can? I would love that!”

They continued to discuss this new plan for the winter, both feeling so happy and excited at the prospect of spending much more time together. Time flew by and before they realized it, it was well past midnight. Mark noticed that Fernando was looking rather sleepy and suggested that he leave so that the Spaniard can get some sleep. However, Fernando pleaded for him to stay. They shared the only bed in the room, wrapped up in each other arms and falling into a sweet deep slumber. It had been a trying day, especially for Fernando who went through quite a few upheavals in his emotions. Fortunately it all turned out well as he slept contentedly, wrapped securely in Mark’s warm embrace.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The last race was over and the season had finally ended. Fernando breathed a big sigh of relief. Today had been another awful day. A first lap incident had dropped him right to the back and to add insult to injury, the stewards had penalized him for hitting the Lotus even though it was because he was tagged by another car from behind. From then on, there was nothing he could do for the race except to run the car and hopefully collect some valuable data for the team. Fernando was so ready to put this miserable season behind him. After the race ended, he did his usual media duties and debrief with the team. Finally he made his way back to his cool down room, he planned to get changed quickly and go look for Mark. 

On opening the door, there was pleasant surprise for him. Mark was there, in his room, waiting for him! Fernando dived into Mark’s opened arms and Mark enveloped him securely. No words were needed. All he wanted was there, Mark’s calming presence was all he needed to recover from the frustrations of such miserable race. As he leaned onto Mark, his stress and tension melted away and he breathed a sigh of content. They stayed in this position for a long time, both too comfortable to move. However, they were interrupted by a sharp knock on the door which quickly opened to reveal his teammate. Mark and Fernando quickly sprung apart but from Jenson’s expression, they knew that he had seen their previous position.

“Hi! I was just coming in here to say goodbye to you, Fernando” Jenson said rather cheerfully and with a wag of his eyebrows continued, “Hey Mark, fancy seeing you here.”

“Er, well, Mark was just here for a little chat.” Fernando blurted the first excuse that came to his mind. He could feel his ears burning.

“Yep, am sure he is” Jenson continued with a smirk.

“Think you better take that smirk off your face, mate, or I’ll wipe it off for you!” Mark warned in a half joking tone.

“Hey, that’s not way to treat your best mate! But don’t you worry, my lips are sealed. Besides, you two should have got on with it already. Everyone could see how much Fernando been pining for you since you left” Jenson continued to tease. His teammate objected loudly but to no avail. The teasing continued for a few minutes before Jenson finally got serious and told them sincerely that he was really happy to see them together.

They chatted on for a while about their plans for the winter and agreed to meet up for drinks one of the days. As Jenson was about to leave, Mark suggested that they take a photo together as it was rare for all three of them to be together. 

Mark picked up his phone. Fernando was to his right, Jenson to his left. As he aimed his phone at the three of them for a selfie, he naturally leaned towards his right, while Fernando also leaned in close to him. Mark’s other hand, unseen by the camera (and he thought, Jenson), slipped into Fernando’s and held it tight. All three of them beamed at the camera for the selfie. Although Jenson was secretly feeling like a third wheel and he did see Mark’s hand in Fernando’s despite what the Aussie thought, he was happy to share this moment with two good friends. A perfect shot of the three friends to mark the end of a tumultuous season for two of them.

As Fernando looked at the photo, he was in a reflective mood. It had indeed been an extremely difficult year, filled with many frustrations, misery and even deep sadness. But there had also been silver linings, the tough year had made him a better person; he and his new team had formed a strong bond in working together through the difficult times and they were all hopeful for a much better 2016. More importantly for Fernando on a personal level, the realization that Mark had always cared deeply for him and would always be there for him filled him with a deep sense of warmth and hope. 

The season had ended on a sweet note with a beautiful moment captured in memory for the three friends and all those privileged to see it. It boded well for the coming year. Roll on 2016!


End file.
